Answered Question - Disney Parks Moms Panel

If we have a reservation at BBB before MK opens, and we finish with the makeover before the park opens, what are our options? Do we have to leave the park, or can we stay in and head over to get in line for rides,etc?

- Asked by Kelly from Minnesota on 7/30/2008

This situation has happened to me several times, usually with an early character meal. Let's say your BBB reservation is for 8:00 a.m. you finish at 8:40, and the park is opening at 9:00. What do you do for those 20 minutes? First let me say that you do NOT have to leave the park. But there won't be much else for you to do either. There might be a shop or two open on Main Street, but this might also not be true. Otherwise you really have two options.

- Use the park for some not-otherwise-possible photo opportunities. With minimal numbers of guests in the park, you can often use a situation like this to get great shots of your family in front of the castle without zillions of other people in the background.- Get in a good position to be first in line for a ride. The ride areas themselves will be roped off. For example there will be a rope blocking off all of Tomorrowland. But there will be some friendly cast members there to talk with -- sometimes they'll have a little trivia contest or give out stickers or something like that. And then at the appointed time, the cast members will drop the rope and ask guests to WALK to the attraction queues. Even if you're not first in line for say, Space Mountain, you will be ahead of the throngs that are waiting down by the main gate.

Early last year, when the character meal at the Animal Kingdom was still at the Restaurantosaurus near DinoLand, we finished our meal at about 8:40. We went outside and stood at the DinoLand rope waiting for them to open up the Primeval Whirl. We got to talking with the cast member there about our plans for the day. Not only did we get to go on Primeval Whirl first for the day, we were even given a special certificate commemorating the event. And they let us go on two more times in a row. I must confess that I bailed out after the second trip and waited for the kids on the bench at the exit. Too many Krispy Kremes plus spinning rollercoaster = Primeval Hurl if you're not careful :-)

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